Contents

John was born in 1920. He lived in Kansas, the son of a wheat farmer. When he became a teen, the country was mired in the Great Depression, and the family had lost the farm. He was raised in southern Oregon. At the age of 17, John chopped off his big toe while he was logging. His parents split up when he was young. He lived with his two sisters in a 12x15ft cabin. By the time he was 19, he left for Alaska by steamship, in 1939, where his father had already left for to look for work.

In addition to mining, he has run a bed&breakfast, built roads, owned a hardware store, owned a lumber mill, and has been mayor of Haines, Alaska.

He was the founder of the Big Nugget Mine, a famous mine on the edge of Porcupine Creek. He bought the mine as a summertime activity for his children. He became a miner at age 68, in 1984, after his other activities.

91 year old John had been the boss of the mine, when in 2011 (season 2), he gave it to his 17 year old grandson Parker Schnabel. John was around to help his grandson with the mine. In season 4, John resumed running the mine.

John found over 50 ounces of gold and very large nuggets in one day on McKilrevie Bench